Page 6 of Avenging Kelly

I rode my Ducati SuperSport to Brooklyn where Gabe Torrente ran GEA-A, pretty surprised my mom hadn’t solder her like she’d threatened to do since I wasn’t making enough money to really help out her and Mia. She’d even allowed the neighbor guy to come into the garage to start her every once in a while, which had surprised me. Mom didn’t usually do nice things for me—I was a failure, after all. I owed the guy for looking out for my bike.

I wanted to know everything Mathis hadn’t told my mother about Mia’s rescue. Based on Gabby and Shep’s personalities alone, I knew they’d sugarcoated that shit for her, but I wanted answers.

I hit the door without knocking, only to be met with a shrill yell. “Hey—you can’t just storm in here!” It was some blonde chick I hadn’t seen the last time I was there, and she was coming after me as I started up the stairs where I remembered the offices were located.

I didn’t give a shit about their protocols or rules. I wanted to know what the fuck had really happened to my sister, and they were going to tell me, even if I had to beat the words out of everyone in the whole goddamn place.

Some wall of a man stood at the top of the stairs watching me. I had my helmet under my arm, ready to use it to defend myself if things turned hostile—well, more hostile than I already felt they were.

I pinched off my riding gloves and kept my eyes on the guy in case he made any quick moves to come after me. He couldn’t imagine how much he’d regret starting shit with me. Though, if he worked for Gabe, I believed he must be a decent guy, but then again, I had nothing to substantiate any judgment.

I saw the guy lift his leg and touch his ankle before he grinned and started down the stairs toward me. I knew he must be strapped, though as big as he was, most guys would be shit-scared to cross him.

“Hi there. I’m Austin. What can I do for you?” the guy asked, adopting a friendly demeanor I didn’t trust. I studied him as he walked down, staring at me in return. If he got froggy, I was ready for him.

After his posturing on the step above me, I finally spoke. “I want to talk to Gabe Torrente.” My tone wasn’t exactly friendly, but any friendliness I’d once had was beaten out of me long ago.

I saw a familiar face in the hallway above us—Shepard Colson, or Smokey, as Gabe had called him. He saw me and smiled, running down the stairs. “Hey, Kelly. How are ya, man? I didn’t know you’d been released.”

Smokey extended his hand, so I shook it, a bit of relief flooding my soul at the man’s kind exterior. I calmed a bit but remained on alert. I didn’t believe I’d have any trouble with either of them, but Semper Vigilans was a good code to live by: ever vigilant.

“Hi, Shep. Good to see you. I, uh, I got discharged last week. There was paperwork, of course, so I just got to Queens last night and I tried to call—”

“Yeah, uh, let’s go up to my office, Kelly. Oh, Bru-Austin, this is Sergeant Kelly Brown, Mia Boone’s brother. I’ll fill ya in on details later, but he’s a client of ours,” Shep explained.

The three of us walked up the stairs and down the hall to the conference room. Smokey opened the door for Austin and me, and we walked inside and took seats at the table, me at six o’clock, Austin at three, and Smokey at nine. They were probably preparing for me to be a prick again, which was a safe bet.

I glanced at first one and then the other. “Tell me what happened.”

Before either man could answer, there was a knock on the glass of the conference room. On the other side was a person dressed in a fancy blue outfit wearing full makeup. They were damn good looking.

Austin glanced up, and the person motioned them out, so he turned to Smokey. “Will you excuse me for a moment? Smokey, you’ll be okay, yes?”

I chuckled at the big guy’s reluctance to leave Smokey alone with me. He had a few inches of height on me, but we were probably equal in bulk since I’d started working with the quacks running Operation Jackpot. As long as Shepard didn’t move on me, I was no threat to him.

The person outside gave Shep a small wave, and he grinned back. “I’ll be fine. Kelly and I go back a few years. Go see if St. Michael is around, will ya?”

Austin nodded and left the room, he and the person in the hall walking away.

“You want some water or coffee, maybe?” Shep asked as he stood and walked over to a small fridge, pulling it open and grabbing two bottles of water. He tossed one my way, and I caught it, placing it on the table before I unzipped my leather jacket to get a little more comfortable.

“This is great. Thanks,” I answered as I lifted the bottle, twisting off the cap to put it to my lips. Just as I was about to take a drink, the conference room door opened and a gorgeous brown-haired man with piercing hazel eyes stepped inside. I probably had those stupid hearts shooting out of my eyeballs like a cartoon.

“You wanted to see me, Smokey?” he asked Shep.

The man was Shepard’s height, but he was much more muscular. He looked like someone who should be on television. My leather pants were squeezing my cock like a vice at the sight of him. If I got him in bed, god… I’d eat him alive.

“London St. Michael, this is Sergeant Kelly Brown. Kelly, this is one of my coworkers, London St. Michael. Narc, take a seat,” Shep directed. so the man did, taking the seat that Austin had vacated.

He extended his hand. “Sergeant Brown, thank you for your service,” the guy greeted me.

I shook his hand in return. “Actually, it’s just Brown. I got busted down when I went AWOL to look for my sister. I just got out of USDB… uh, the brig. Call me Kelly,” I responded.

“Please don’t call me Narc. These guys think everyone has to have a call sign,” St. Michael joked, making Shep laugh.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. St. Michael. I’m here because I want to know what you people know about my sister’s abduction and how the hell did Mathis end up dead?” I cast my eyes to the table because if I kept staring at the man like I was going to jump him, he’d probably punch me.

St. Michael nodded. “Call me London or St. Michael, please. As far as your sister, I’ll need to find Duke Chambers and Ace Hampton to give you the details, but I know they found her outside a dive bar in San Diego. Actually, Ace and Mathis were the ones who discovered her, and with Mateo’s help, they basically kidnapped her from a degenerate pimp.”

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